Burial-vault



T. F. .IETER.

BURIAL VAULT.

APPLlcATmN mso MAY6.1920.

Patented Sept UNETED STATES PATENT oFFlcs.

BURIAL-VAULT.

j Specication of Letters Patent. Patented Sept, 20, 1921.

.Application led May 6, 1920. Serial No. 379,251.

To all whom 'it may concern.'`

Be it known that I THOMAS F. JETER, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Snohomish, county of Snohomish, and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Burial-Vaults, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in burial vaults, and has for its principal object to provide a surface vault that will be air and water proof1- and of such construction that a constant temperature may be maintained within the casket chamber.`

It is a further object of the invention to provide for the construction of vaults of the above character, which may be made of concrete or other plastic, indestructible material at a relatively small cost and which may be made conveniently in' a design that will enhance the appearance of the vault.

, It is also an object to provide a vault having a base member formed integral therewith whereon a monumental stone or lmarker may be erected.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention, I have provided the improved details of construction, the preferred forms of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a longitudinal, sectional View of a burial vault, constructed according to the resent invention.

Fig. 2 isa transverse section of the same.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the vault and monument.

Referring more in ndetail to the drawings-'f-l designates the vault as a whole, which comprises vertical side walls, 2--2, end walls, 3 3', and a horizontal bottom wall 4, all of which may be extended to any desirable depth, which in most cases would be aboutforty inchesy below the ground surface. Preferably, the vault and its covers presently described, would be made of concrete, but could be formed of any other suit' able material that could be made impervious to water or air.

Extending' horizontally about the four walls, interiorly of the vault,l is a shoulder 6 whereon a slab may be lowered and supported to form a closed chamber 8 in the lower portion `of the vault wherein a cas- T'ket may be placed. This slab 7 is preferably arched transversely of the vault to give it strength and is covered by a sealing slab 9 that is formed by pouring the concrete onto temperature therein.

the slab 7 after the latter is placed in position, and which, when set, seals the joints between the vault walls and slab to make the chamber 8 air and water tight. y Slightly below the upper edge of the vault walls, and extendingl about the interior thereof, is a shoulder 10 whereon a slab 11, similar to the slab 7, is placed, forming a large inclosed air chamber 12 in the upper half of the vault above the casl'et chamber. The slab 11 is over laid by a cover l5 seated upon a continuous shoulder 18 that extends about the vault, slightly above the shoulder l0.

This cover slab is preferably ridged longitudinally and beveled at the ends so that it will seat tightly ,within the supporting shoulders and against the upper edges of the slab 11, and will also form an air chamber 16 between the ridged portion and the slab 11.

Small Ventilating tubes 20 are extended through the cover slab so that there may be a circulation of air throughthe upper air chamber which willv tend to prevent temperature changes in the lower airchamber,

for the reason that without 'such achamber, permitting free circulationzof air with the atmosphere, the intense rays from the sun in the summer time upon therco'ver slab causing such slab to be heated, would necessarily be directly communicated to the dead air chamber 12, and hence raise 4the Furthermore, the high coeiicient of expansion of concrete, when subjected to heat, necessarily requires such provision, as, otherwise, the heat would cause the cover slabs of both the upper and lower air chambers to expand and would either'crack the sides of the vault or would themselves crack and permit air within the casket chamber. The only alternative would be to provide expansion joints which would not be practicable in vault construction.

At one end of the vault, formed integrally with the wall 3', is an extension 21 which ma be made of any desirable dimension an depth, and which may serve as a 'foundation whereon a monument or marker 22 may be erected. The upper surface of this foundation would preferably be level with the ground surface and about two inches below the upper edge of the Vault walls.

In the construction of the vault the interior surfaces, if the side and end walls between the shoulders 6, 10 and 18 are vertical and have no offsets which would prevent the slabs being easily lowered onto their respective supporting shoulders.

Assuming that the vault is so constructed, in using the same, the casket is first lowered into the chamber 8 and is covered by the slab 7, which is lowered onto the shoulders 6. This slab is then covered by a relatively thick layer of concrete which is poured into the vault and allowed to set, so that it seals the lower chamber against air and water. y i

The slab 1l is then placed in position on the shoulders 10 and this is overlaid by the cover slab 15, vforming a relatively large dead air chamber above the casket chamber, and a smaller air chamber beneath the cover which is ventilated through the tubes in the latter.

It is apparent that such a vault would be practically indestructible, would be impervious to water and air, and would provide a casket chamber that would be impervious ,to exterior temperature changes.

It is also apparent that the construction permits of a design that is ornamental, and

conveniently provides for the foundation of a monumental head stone for identifying the vault.

What I claim as new, is:

1. A burial vault of the character describedl .comprising a sealed casket chamber, a dead air chamber above the casket chamber and a ventilated air space above the dead air chamber.

2. A burial vault comprising vertical side and end walls, offset at different horizontal levels to form upwardly facing shoulders continuously about the interior thereof, a

slab seated upon one of said shoulders dividing the vault into a lower casket chamber and an upper dead air chamber, a plastic sealing slab formed above the first named slabto seal the casket chamber, inner and outer cover slabs seated upon shoulders at the top of the vault, thevupper slab being ridged to form an air space between the cover slabs and Ventilating tubes extended therethrough, for the purpose set forth.

Signed at Seattle, Washington, this 29th day of April, 1920.

THOMAS F. JETER. 

